Today’s eye candy post comes from one of my favorite floral designers, Kelly of Botanique Flowers. I knew of Kelly long before I moved to Washington and am happy to say that I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her since moving here!
Photographed by Barbara Kinney
Chantal Andrea Photography
Jess Hunter Photography
Jess Hunter Photography
Photographed by Alex Hayden
Photographed by Ryan Flynn
Jennifer Tai Photography
Photographed by Alicia Schwede
The Question:
What advice would you give to aspiring floral designers?
And the Answers:
Be as diverse as you possibly can. Learn all different styles even if you personally prefer one or the other. Your expertise and range will be highly desirable to potential employers and clientele.
Flowers By Gabrielle
Grosse Point, Michigan
Educate yourselves. Attend as many workshops, design shows and business classes that you can. Find a professional floral design instructor, preferably one who has credentials, so that you can learn how to do things correctly. Business classes are essential because you can design something beautiful but if you can’t sell it for a reasonable profit, that’s only half the game.
Deborah Di Bella AIFD
Ambiance Today
Honolulu, Hawaii
Don’t give up! It takes practice, practice and practice. Take classes, buy books, videos, follow top designers on social media. Find a mentor to critique your work. The best way to learn is to actually work in a shop and train on the job. However, that can be a tough nut to crack because shops want people with experience. If aspiring to be AIFD, there is a group on FB called “PFDE Candidates for Symposium” there is a list where you can find a mentor close to you or just pick one you want to work with.
Adrianna Duran-Leon AIFD
The Flower Company
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Pay attention to mechanics!
Althea Wiles
Rose of Sharon Floral Designs
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Go to workshops, classes, conferences etc. Never stop learning. Keep up to date by following blogs, Instagram etc. of designers and websites that inspire you.
Buffy Haramaki
Pink Posey Design
Denver, Colorado
Hey flower friends!
I have two floral design classes scheduled for Saturday, July 30, 2016. They will both take place at Seattle Wholesale Growers Market in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.
In the morning, starting at 10am I will teach a bridal bouquet design class.
In this hands-on workshop you will learn how to design a lush bridal bouquet. We’ll start with a demonstration on how to design a bouquet and we will discuss mechanics. After my demonstration the class participants will be able to select the flowers for their bouquets — we’ll have a lot of luscious summer flowers on hand like dahlias, garden roses and all the other good stuff! After the bouquet is created we will embellish the stems with lovely ribbon.
Register for this class HERE.
In the afternoon, starting at 1pm I will teach a compote centerpiece design class.
We’ll create full and lush compote styled centerpieces. Compote styled arrangements beckons a loose, garden inspired designs. Everyone will create a beautiful arrangement to take home & enjoy!
Register for this class HERE.
Special Note! As noted above, I will be teaching two classes on Saturday, July 30th. In the morning will be the bridal bouquet class and in the afternoon there will be a compote centerpiece class. The bridal bouquet class is $250 and the compote centerpiece class is $175. However, if you’d like to sign up for both classes there will be a $75 savings! Both classes can be purchased for $350. Sign up for both classes HERE.
Hope to see you there!
Anna Hoffman of Loop Flowers
Morgan Anderson of the flori.culture
Angie of Posh Floral Design
Corinne ofSebesta Design
Heather Williams of Twig & Twine
Sarah Tedford of Ladybird Poppy
Laura of Passion Flowers Design
Sean Cook of Mr Cook Flowers, Australia
The Question:
Which Social Media Platform is your Favorite?
The Answers:
My favorite social media platform is Facebook, as it allows a conversation about anything posted. I constantly vow to spend more time posting, but always fall short of my goals. Time to find an intern for a constant post-a-palooza!
Cynthia Damico
design in bloom
Virginia
I use facebook the most. It’s just so interactive and I can post links, pictures, and written content. The one thing I do not like about facebook is that it hides my business page posts in an effort to encourage business owners to pay for advertisements. This is very frustrating. I haven’t been using Instagram for very long, but I feel like this social media platform is the general favorite among wedding professionals.
Holly Kerr
Love Letters Floral Design
Colorado
Although I post pretty regularly on Facebook and Pinterest, I think that my favorite platform is Instagram. Creative use of the hashtags drives potential business to my website and other social media platforms with a bit more regularity than most of the others.
Elizabeth Jackson
Laughing Earth Flowers
Texas
I like Instagram the best. It allows me to post to multiple social media accounts at the same time and makes it easy for me to tag other vendors at the same time. I also love that you can go back and edit posts if you want to add tags. I feel like it reaches the most people IF you are making use of the tags. It puts beautiful images of my work at the client’s fingertips and they can search for key words that are relevant to their wedding. The trick is to try to anticipate what the client will search for and use those key words/phrases in the tagging of your work.
Blair Roberts
Sweet Blossoms
Maryland
My favourite social media platform is Pinterest all the way! There is no better place to gather inspiration, and put your vision together.
Shayla Ambrose Floral Design
Alberta, Canada
Hello Flower Friends!
Hey, I want to share this fun new project that I’m working on with Longfield Gardens!
They have just released The Flirty Fleurs Red and White Collection!
How cool is that? A Flirty Fleurs Collection 
I’ve worked with them on pairing tulips together to create an interesting texture mixture and color combinations.
Here is the first of the collections that has rolled out:
and how these tulips look when they are all together:
Pretty cool, right?!
So when fall season comes along and if you want to have tulips in the spring, be sure to check out what Longfield Gardens has to offer. Personally, I’m eyeing the La Belle Epoque and placing those in my shopping cart now!!
Today’s video is about what to do when you don’t have a picture to show a client. Oftentimes clients rely on photos to relay their vision, but what if you haven’t done this exact design before? You know you can make it, but you don’t have a picture. Here’s how I view this “issue” and how you might approach this problem in the future.
If you like my videos please “like” them, leave a comment and subscribe to my YouTube channel for future updates!
You can find more of my FREE video training and online business courses exclusively for florists at http://freshevents.floralartvt.com
Alison Ellis
Floral Artistry
Vermont
Today’s Eye Candy post features the stunning floral design work by Leslie of Rebelle Fleurs Event Design. Rebelle Fleurs is located in Southern California.
Designer Unknown – please leave a comment if you recognize this bouquet!
One week from today I’ll be standing next to my friend Robyn of Bare Root Flora and getting to work on all the flowers for the Field To Vase dinner. The dinner is taking place the next evening at The Fresh Herb Company in Boulder, Colorado. We are both so excited to be contributing our flower designing skills and filling the dinner tables with lush centerpieces!
I was recently interviewed on the American Grown Flowers Blog, it was interesting to have the tables turned as I’m used to be in the interviewer and not the interviewee!
http://www.americangrownflowers.org/sweet-savory-aromas-fill-the-boulder-skies/
Robyn was also interviewed and you can read her interview here-
http://www.americangrownflowers.org/a-marriage-of-food-flowers-in-colorado/
“MIDORI is a quality brand that inspires, enchants and immerses Ribbonistas in the vibrant world of MIDORI with every ribbon and design.”
Today we are featuring luxurious ribbons & gift wrap from MIDORI, styled by Amy of GATHER.
This was my first experience working with MIDORI’s gift wrap, it is very thick paper and with beautiful print. The ribbons are quite luxurious, I absolutely love the double faced satin ones! The Dupioni Silk is also very enchanting.
Pink Floral Lace Paper with Quince Double Faced Satin Ribbon, Mint Organdy Ribbon, Spa Double Faced Satin, and Cameo Dupioni Silk.
Pink Floral Lace Paper
Navy Whale Paper with Navy Dupioni Silk Ribbon, Navy & Cream Ascot Ribbon, Navy & Cream Checked Taffeta, and White Rayon Trimming.
Magnolia Jolie Ribbon
Yellow Organdy Ribbon
Burnt Sienna Dupioni Silk Ribbon & Carrot Organdy Ribbon.
Burnt Sienna Dupioni Silk Ribbon & Carrot Organdy Ribbon.
Pink Flamingo Paper with Spa Double Faced Satin Ribbon.
Peach & Navy Pigs Paper with Cameo Dupioni Silk Ribbon.
Cherries Paper with Quince Double Faced Satin Ribbon.
Bouquet with Mint Organdy and Cameo Dupioni Silk Ribbons.
www.bjonesphotos.com
I’ve scheduled a Hands-On Floral Arch & Chuppah Workshop on Saturday, September 10, 2016 here in Arlington, Washington. This is one of my most popular workshops and is limited to 4 students.
Arches brimming with flowers is my absolute favorite piece to design — gotta love a happy bride standing underneath her flower arch!
In this hands-on Floral Arch & Chuppah Workshop we will work together to create two arches & and two chuppahs. We’ll have a lot of flowers on hand and we will work on four different mechanics techniques for building chuppahs and floral arches..
This class will take place outside where we’ll have plenty of room to spread out our floral projects!
This class is limited to 4 participants as I find it works best to keep the class small for optimum hands-on experience with decorating the 4 designs.
Please come prepared to work outside all day, regardless of the weather.
Lunch & refreshments included.
Date: Saturday, September 10, 2016
Time: 10am until done, this is an all day class! Previous classes have ended between 5-6pm.
Location: Flirty Fleurs World Headquarters, also known as my home & property in Arlington, Washington (one hour north of Seattle)
Investment: $650.00
Register HERE
www.bjonesphotos.com
The Question:
What advice would you give to aspiring floral designers?
The Answers:
Stay true to your vision and design. When I first started out that I want to create designs that looked just picked or garden like. At the time and especially in my location, it wasn’t common.
I was worried I wouldn’t get any work because people around here had never seen anything like it but I went for it. I really held true that I would at least have a couple of brides that got it.
Guess what, they did, and I love my clients so much more because of that. I also have 10 times more confidence doing my work for these brides because they chose me for my style. I would say hold tight to your vision and your design because there will people that understand and appreciate it.
Shannon DePalma
The Botanical Box
Nutley, New Jersey
I would advise new floral designers to EDUCATE themselves. Start at the bottom, learn good mechanics and the basic principles and elements of design. This will give them a foundation to make beautiful arrangements that are more balanced and pleasing to the eye. I think there is a lot of ‘messy’ foraged or garden and gathered look, out there. Yes, love flowers and design, but PLEASE learn the basics of good design. There are so many ‘designers’ out there today, but what makes you different, if all the work out there, looks the same? Even the original, Saipua, uses good strong lines and a focal point, to create a more pleasing look. It DOES make a difference.
Also, mechanics are so important. It’s like trying to build a house, without laying a proper foundation. It makes a difference. It may look pretty, but if it’s not stable, what’s the point? Also, learning and knowing the proper techniques from everything to cutting flowers at an angle, how proper insertion into foam or water, is critical to the overall outcome. I feel like a lot of designers don’t value how important that is.
Jessica Morris AIFD, CFD
HotHouse Design Studio & PropHouse Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Enjoy every minute of the journey! As floral designers, we have tight deadlines, long days, late nights, restless sleep thinking and planning the next big event. Yes, it’s just flowers, but it’s sooo much more! Its’ the expression on the brides face, when she see’s her bouquet for the first time. That warm heartfelt tearful moment, when ” wow” this is happening! Or when you conceptually come up with a design that in theory will work. Then you have to execute, connstruct a structure from the ground up, and adorn it with florals and fabric. Then when the family see’s it they are ear to ear with grins! These are the moments to cherish! All their dreams are coming true and we get to play a tiny part in their dream wedding!
Don’t worry about the “rules”. The rules are guidelines, trust your instincts, and design on your love of the journey!
Gayla Harvey
Tiger Lily Weddings
Charleston, South Carolina
Take as many flower designing courses as you can. And continually do so! Read, learn and continue to soak in advice from those with more experience. Find a mentor, ask questions!
Tara Grand
By The Bloom – Flower Truck
Southern California
My best advice for aspiring florists would be: BE BOLD in every aspect of working with flower arrangements.
My second piece of advice is: GET PROPER EQUIPMENT, KEEP THEM WORKING PROPERLY—includes the coolers, air filters, hand tools, computers and cash registers.
My third piece of advice is: Cultivate good vendors AND BACKUP VENDORS—people you buy from, and then monitor their billings and quality of product closely. Try hard to keep your pricing affordable for the customers in your location.
And finally—all you can really sell is YOUR SERVICE. Be willing to “Make It Happen” for your customer.
Well, that’s my advice for the aspiring florist—I am one and learning more everyday.
Pearl Norcross
Flippin Fancy Flowers
Flippin, Arkansas
This video is about Rejection. We all deal with it from time to time in our creative businesses. It’s simply a fact of life. You take the good, you take the bad, you take ’em both and there you have…wait, where was I? Oh yeah, rejection. Click to get my take on why rejection is actually a GOOD thing!
Rejection. It's a Good thing. from Alison Ellis on Vimeo.
Find more free training videos and online courses from Alison here: http://freshevents.floralartvt.com
Alison Ellis
Floral Artistry
The Question:
Which Social Media Platform is your favorite and why?
The Answers:
My favorite social media platform is Instagram. Like all social media, it has it’s positives and negatives. Positives: I have made some amazing connections with photographers and wedding planners – which has translated into a good bit of business for me. I’ve also found some terrific local flower growers and can easily stay current with what they have coming out of their fields.
Negative: If you let it, it can stifle your creativity and make you question your abilities. Be mindful to only follow people who lift you up and inspire you.
“Personality begins where comparison leaves off. Be unique. Be memorable. Be confident. Be proud.” ― Shannon L. Alder
Sue Prutting
White Magnolia Designs
Washington DC
I love Instagram – its visual nature lends well to the kind of work we do. I’ve been able to run successful shop promos and contests through instagram without spending a dime. And it links to Facebook & Twitter easily.
Michelle Hodgson
Blossom & Vine Floral Co.
Vancouver, BC.
I love using Instagram and Facebook – I can easily post current photos of weddings for prospective brides to peruse. They love seeing new ideas in the location where they are getting married. It often leads to add-ons because they fall in love with a look.
Melody King
Fleurish Floral Designs
Carmel, California
Instagram is our favorite social media platform, because our work is so heavily based on visual aesthetics. Instagram is the best way to give a quick and varied pitch to potential clients and brides because it shows a collection of our work in a simple and fun way. I love setting up weddings all weekend, and then getting inquiries on Monday with pictures that I posted, saying that they want to book me based on what they had seen.
Mary Coombs
A Garden Party
New Jersey
Instagram is my favorite social media platform. It is easy to use and I love the visual aspect.
Shelly Bagdasian
B Floral and Event Design
Chevy Chase, Maryland
